Fired after 5 months as founding SDR

Hey everyone, I could really use some advice. I was recently fired after 5 months as a founding enterprise SDR at a fintech startup.

For context, our SDR team started with three people, but one rep was fired about a month ago, and now I’ve been let go as well. The company had no paid tools for prospecting, no inbound leads, and no marketing support. We were targeting AP teams in the healthcare industry, which is a pretty niche market.

My job was to cold-call corporate offices, connect with AP employees to qualify them, gather info about decision-makers, and then try to book a discovery call with the Controller or CFO. We didn’t have AEs, so demos were run by our head of tech or operations.

Despite the challenges, I worked hard and managed to build a list of about 50 SQLs and booked 5 demos. But my biggest struggle was connecting with CFOs directly since I didn’t have the tools to scrape their cell numbers or reach them efficiently.

This was my first tech sales role, and while I knew there were some red flags going in, I took the job to get my foot in the door and learn. I don’t regret it because I did gain valuable experience, but now I’m worried that only lasting 5 months will hurt my chances of landing another role.

Does anyone have advice on how to position myself when applying for new roles? How should I talk about this experience in interviews? And what steps can I take to improve my chances moving forward?